Sacramento Bee: CA Mom Fights Trans Health Care As Supreme Court Hears Case
The argument over the right of transgender young people to legally access gender affirming health care has officially arrived at the U.S. Supreme Court. Justices will hear oral arguments Wednesday in the case of United States v. Skrmetti, which originated in Tennessee after the parents of a transgender teenager sued the state for banning gender-affirming health care, calling the ban a violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (Hatch, 12/4)

Politico: In Supreme Court Battle Over Transgender Rights, Conservatives Look To An Unlikely Ally: Europe 
When the Supreme Court hears oral arguments Wednesday in a major fight over Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for minors, conservatives defending the law plan to point to an unexpected place as a model: Europe. Two decades ago, Republicans appeared allergic to foreign influence on the U.S. legal system, decrying Supreme Court decisions that looked abroad — often to Europe — for guidance on culture-war issues like gay rights and the death penalty. (Gerstein, 12/3)

EdSource: Conflict Over Race, LGBTQ Issues Cost Schools More Than $3 Billion Last School Year
Uncivil discourse and hostile rhetoric has divided school communities, disrupted school board meetings and cost districts a combined $3.2 billion last school year, according to recently released research. (Lambert, 12/4)

Los Angeles Times: Newly Elected L.A. School Board Members Vow To Defend Against Trump
Newly elected Los Angeles school board members say they are united in a mission to protect the district’s most vulnerable — students and staff who are immigrants or LGBTQ+ — following wins that are generally a plus for Supt. Alberto Carvalho and the teachers union and a setback for privately managed charter schools. All three of the newly elected or reelected board members are focused with apprehension on President-elect Donald Trump, who has stated his intent to deport immigrants, end diversity programs, limit the teaching of history he deems “woke” and unpatriotic, curtail rights recently extended to transgender students and shut down the U.S. Department of Education. (Blume, 12/4)

Los Angeles Times: State Bill Calls To Certify Stonecutting Shops Amid Worker Deaths
New legislation in Sacramento aims to address a rise in countertop cutters suffering an incurable and fatal disease by imposing new requirements on businesses, including safety training for workers. Senate Bill 20, introduced this week by state Sen. Caroline Menjivar (D-Panorama City), would set up a certification system for the fabrication shops where workers cut, grind and polish stone slabs to fashion them into countertops. That certification would require that businesses have their workers undergo training on safety practices and show inspectors they are adhering to state standards. (Alpert Reyes, 12/4)

Los Angeles Times: California Bans "Sell By" Dates: What To Know About Food Labels
With the exception of infant formula, date labels on packaged food are not federally regulated or required, leaving it up to manufacturers and the state to determine what labels are necessary. An old state law suggested putting dated labels on foods to help consumers know when their food has gone bad, instead of confusing, grocer-focused “Sell by” labels. A new California law requires them in an effort to reduce the food waste that Californians produce — 6 million tons of it every year, according to the state Department of Food and Agriculture. (McDonald, 12/4)

The New York Times: California Democrat Flips Seat In The Last House Race To Be Called
A Democratic former state lawmaker defeated the Republican incumbent on Tuesday to flip a seat in California’s Central Valley that was the last 2024 House race to be called, according to The Associated Press. Despite the victory by the challenger, Adam Gray, over the incumbent, U.S. Representative John Duarte, the Republicans will retain narrow control over the House when the next Congress convenes. Republicans will have 220 seats versus 215 for the Democrats. (Cowan, 12/4)

The New York Times: C.E.O. Of UnitedHealthcare Is Killed In Midtown Manhattan 
The chief executive of UnitedHealthcare was fatally shot in the chest in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning, according to a police report and two people familiar with the matter. The report said that the executive, Brian Thompson, 50, was shot just after 6:45 a.m. at 1335 Sixth Avenue, the address for the New York Hilton Midtown, according to the report. Mr. Thompson was taken to Mount Sinai West in critical condition. (Marcius, 12/4)

Becker's Hospital Review: Kaiser's Risant Health Acquires 2nd Health System
Risant Health, a nonprofit formed by Oakland-based Kaiser Permanente, acquired Greensboro, N.C.-based Cone Health, a five-hospital system, effective Dec. 1. The transaction cements Risant as the sole corporate member of Cone Health. There was no purchase price or exchange of cash. (Condon, 12/3)

Becker's Hospital Review: Clinician Turnover Rises As EHR Frustrations Grow: Report
The healthcare industry is grappling with rising clinician turnover, as burnout and frustrations with electronic health records drive many nurses and physicians to consider leaving, a new report from KLAS found. To better understand the high rates of clinician turnover, the KLAS Arch Collaborative started asking clinicians who plan to leave their organization about their next steps. (Diaz, 12/3)

Becker's Hospital Review: Travel Nurse Pay By State
Average weekly travel nurse pay in the U.S. in November was $2,286.34, up 0.65% from the previous month and down 3.34% from November 2023, according to data shared with Becker's from Vivian, a healthcare career marketplace. Here is the average weekly travel nurse pay for each state as of November 2024, along with the percentage difference between November and October. (Gooch, 12/3)

American Heart Association News: First-Aid Guidelines Expanded To Include Opioid Overdoses, Seizures, Other Emergencies
First-aid guidelines for bystanders and emergency responders have long focused on issues like chest pain, bleeding and recognizing a stroke. Now, they have been updated and expanded to include recommendations for managing opioid overdoses, open chest wounds and other emergencies. The revised guidelines, developed by the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross, were published in the journal Circulation. It is the first comprehensive update since 2010. (12/3)

The Conversation: Taxpayers Spend 22% More Per Patient To Support Medicare Advantage
Medicare Advantage — the commercial alternative to traditional Medicare — is drawing down federal health care funds, costing taxpayers an extra 22% per enrollee to the tune of $83 billion a year. (McCormack and Duffy, 12/3)

AP: Nearly 30% Of US Drugstores Closed In One Decade, Study Shows 
Nearly three out of 10 U.S. drugstores that were open during the previous decade had closed by 2021, new research shows. Black and Latino neighborhoods were most vulnerable to the retail pharmacy closures, which can chip away at already-limited care options in those communities, researchers said in a study published Tuesday in Health Affairs. (Murphy, 12/3)

Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Lobbying Targeted PBM Bills In 2024
Spending on healthcare lobbying has ticked up in 2024, with companies and associations in the healthcare sector again spending hundreds of millions and again putting the greatest attention on bills that involve pharmacy benefit managers. According to federal data compiled by OpenSecrets and analyzed by Modern Healthcare, lobbyist spending for the first three quarters of 2024 hit $562 million, up from $553 million in the same period last year. (McAuliff, 12/3)

Voice of San Diego: Newly Homeless Residents Still Outpacing Newly Housed
There’s been a math problem at the center of San Diego’s homelessness crisis for at least the past three years. More San Diegans are falling into homelessness for the first time and service providers’ efforts to move unhoused people into homes haven’t kept up. This past year, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness reports that more people exited homelessness, but the number of newly homeless San Diegans eclipsed that progress. (Halverstadt, 12/4)

Orange County Register: Embattled California Addiction Treatment Empire Countersues Aetna In $40 Million Tug-Of-War
Nathan Young and his addiction treatment empire have mounted a full-throated defense of how they do business, turning the tables on Aetna — their accuser — by asserting that the insurance giant greedily endangers addicts’ lives by cutting treatment short. “In addiction treatment, more is generally better,” the counterclaim by Young and associates filed on Thanksgiving eve said. “Decades of research point to longer treatment as the number one predictor of a successful addiction treatment outcome. (Sforza, 12/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Behind Our Investigation Into Deaths Inside S.F.’s Biggest Drug Treatment Program
San Francisco's largest publicly funded addiction treatment provider promises a safe environment for drug and alcohol detox and recovery, yet four clients and one staff member fatally overdosed at its facilities over a 13-month period, a new Chronicle investigation found. The deaths, according to public records and interviews with clients, staff and family members, are one of a number of signs that HealthRight 360's programs are not working as designed — and are often a revolving door in which clients cycle between the streets and the programs. (Beidelman, McGrew, and Jihyun Jeong, 12/3)

San Francisco Chronicle: Can California Protect Against Idaho’s ‘Abortion Trafficking’ Law?
Less than an hour after California’s attorney general announced new plans to bolster the state’s protections for people seeking abortions, a federal appeals court reinstated part of an Idaho law that criminalizes efforts to help a minor obtain an abortion in another state without her parents’ consent. The dueling actions highlight the divergence between states seeking to protect reproductive freedoms and those clamping down on them. They also illustrate that laws like California’s, while shielding their residents from most legal actions by other states, cannot offer complete protection. (Egelko, 12/3)

The Atlantic: Out-Of-State Travel Is The Next Abortion Battlefront
Abortion policy in America is at a stalemate. Republicans will take control of Congress in January, ready to block any national protections—but with a slim majority, making a national ban unlikely. At the state level, pro-choice advocates have focused for the past two years on ballot measures to protect abortion rights. Most of those measures have passed; now there are only two states left that have severe restrictions, allow constitutional amendments, and haven’t already failed to pass constitutional protections.

Los Angeles Times: Biden Looks To Abolish Law Allowing Low Pay For Disabled People
The Biden administration’s Department of Labor is moving to phase out a controversial program that allows some employers to pay disabled employees less than the federal minimum wage, the department announced Tuesday. Enacted in 1938 during the late years of the Great Depression, the measure was intended to increase employment opportunities for workers with disabilities but has been denounced by advocates who say it amounts to legalized discrimination. The measure is part of the Fair Labor Standards Act and based on the premise that disabled employees are less productive. (Petrow-Cohen, 12/3)

Los Angeles Times: Sheriff Who Trump Picked To Run DEA Withdraws Name From Consideration
Chad Chronister, Donald Trump’s pick to run the Drug Enforcement Administration, said Tuesday he was withdrawing his name from consideration, becoming the second person selected by the president-elect to bow out quickly after being nominated for a position requiring Senate confirmation. (Price, 12/3)

Axios: Trump's Immigration Crackdown Could Reduce Caregiving Workforce
Some of the earliest and lasting effects from President-elect Trump's promised immigration crackdowns would be in home health and long-term care, both of which rely on a substantial number of immigrants and undocumented workers. (Reed, 12/4)

Stat: Nonprofit Paid RFK Jr. $20,000 A Week Before His Leave Last Year
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made over $20,000 per week as chairman of Children’s Health Defense before stepping away from the nonprofit in 2023 to run for president, new tax filings show. (Cueto, 12/3)

NPR: How RFK Jr.’s Nonprofit Uses Legal Tools To Fight Vaccines
In November 2023, Robert F. Kennedy Jr took the stage at a conference put on by Children's Heath Defense, the anti-vaccination nonprofit he chairs and from which he's been on leave since announcing plans to run for president. "I feel like I've come home today to this organization," he told the cheering crowd. In a winding, nearly hour-long speech, Kennedy recounted his path to anti-vaccine advocacy and his vision for the government, including calling for a "break" in infectious disease research. (Bond, 12/4)

Los Angeles Times: How The FDA Allows Secret Ingredients Into Our Food Supply
For decades, the FDA’s “generally recognized as safe,” or GRAS, designation has allowed food makers to decide for themselves whether certain novel ingredients are safe or not — even without providing evidence to agency scientists. Consumer advocates claim the system has allowed companies to add harmful chemicals, including suspected carcinogens, to such products as cereals, baked goods, ice cream, potato chips and chewing gum. (Kaplan, 12/4)

Los Angeles Times: McDonald’s E. Coli Outbreak Tied To Fresh Onions Is Over
An E. coli outbreak that hit McDonald’s Corp. is over, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. Fresh, slivered onions at McDonald’s were the likely source of the outbreak, the CDC said, in line with previous reports. Beef had been ruled out earlier as the potential cause. (Sirtori, 12/3)

The Guardian: Most Teenagers Recover From Long Covid After Two Years, Study Shows
Most teenagers who have suffered from long Covid recover within two years, according to the largest study of its kind. But the researchers said more work was needed to understand why some children still had ongoing health problems two years after infection. (12/4)

ABC News: Cases Of RSV, Flu Ticking Up Among Young Children In US As Respiratory Virus Season Begins
Cases of flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) are ticking up across the United States even as overall respiratory virus activity remains low. Flu activity is increasing slightly among children while RSV activity is elevated in the southern, central and eastern U.S., according to data updated Monday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As of the week ending Nov. 23, the latest date for which data is available, 0.6% of emergency department visits were for flu and 0.4% were for RSV. (Kekatos and Benadjaoud, 12/3)